The teacher education of VET in Schools (VETiS) teachers

This study investigates the professional preparation of teachers working in vocational education and training (VET) programs in Australian secondary schools. It also investigates the similarities and differences and the enablers and blockers that occur across the various states and territories in their approaches to providing teacher education for VET in Schools (VETiS) teachers. The research focuses on the supply-side of university-based VET teacher education programs and offers a stocktake of the VET method area offerings that are available (and not available) for pre-service teachers in Australia.

Key messages from the report are that: (1) there are concerns regarding the efficacy and expertise of VETiS teachers; (2) the requirement for VETiS teachers to have a teaching degree in order to be able to teach in schools has been removed; accordingly, they are no longer required to gain full teacher registration; (3) some universities that have taught VET as a method area in the past to pre-service teachers have discontinued the offering; (4) demand by pre-service teachers within current models of teacher education to undertake VET as a method area is low and has made it an unviable offering for many universities; and (5) VET as a method area is usually low on the list of university subject offerings for pre-service teachers; with about one in eight of all secondary school students doing VETiS, maybe there should be a subject within all secondary teacher education programs that teaches pre-service teachers about VETiS.

Edited excerpts from publication. Show less